You’ve got cutters, you’ve got a gun, and you’ve got your phone. Need to know you understand exactly what’s at risk here?”
I stare blankly and nod slowly. “I get it.”
“Once it’s done, you get Dax out and keep him out for as long as you can. We’ll let you know when we’re done. Then that’ll be the last time you’re seen there with him. That clear?”
I nod again.
“Waverly, you good?” Cohen asks me, his voice a little concerned. “Lookin’ like you’re not with it.”
“I’m fine,” I say, softly. “I’m just ready for this to be over.”
“We’re goin’ to have you covered,” Kendric tells me. “We’ll make sure that nothin’ happens to you, and you get away from this safe. You feel me?”
I nod again.
“Mykel will drive you to the location where we’ll be waiting so you can see it, and you can enter Dax’s house from there.”
“No,” I say, my voice a little harder this time. “Anyone else but him.”
I don’t look at Mykel when I say this. I can’t.
I can’t handle any more pain right now.
“Bohdi then.”
I nod, and then stand. “I need to get some things ready. I’ll be back here at the agreed time to do this.”
“Waverly?” Alarick calls when I reach the door.
I turn back and glance at him.
“We appreciate this more than you’ll ever fuckin’ know. What you’re doin’ for us takes guts, and you’ve proven yourself one hundred percent true.”
Yeah, I have.
What fucking good has that done for me?
I leave and go home, where I take five minutes for myself before everything goes down. I need to clear my head; I need to figure myself out; I need to be strong for this. If I’m not, then I’m going to end up letting the entire club down and quite frankly, I’m not willing to have that happen.
I take a long, hot shower, and then I make sure my phone is charged, I’ve got my gun loaded, and that I’m ready for the next twenty four hours of my life, because they’re going to be intense. I’m in the bathroom, brushing my hair, when the door behind me opens. In the mirror, I see Mykel enter. He meets my eyes and for a second, I’m confused. What is he doing here?
Better yet, why is he in the bathroom?
I go to ask, but he steps up to me, takes hold of my shoulder, spins me around, and then he’s kissing me. He’s kissing me with such ferocity he renders me breathless. For what seems like minutes, I stand there completely stunned. The kiss he’s giving me right now, it’s unlike every other one we’ve had together.
It speaks more than any words ever could.
After what seems like an eternity, my body finally works and I kiss him back. I let my lips move against his, and I relish in it. I burn into my mind the way his tongue feels against mine, the way his lips are so soft but his beard is so rough. I take in how one hand is resting on the small of my back, and the other is around the back of my neck, holding me close to him.
I take every single moment and lock it away.
Because it’s likely going to be the last one.
After a few more blissful moments, he pulls back and without a word, he walks out of the bathroom.
He leaves me standing there, completely confused and yet feeling so much better.
He didn’t need to say anything, because he told me everything I had been desperate to hear in that one passionate kiss.
It gives me a spark of hope.
A tiny little light in this ever-growing darkness.
I’m grateful to him for that.
More than he’ll ever know.
16
WAVERLY
“I was wondering if you’d come back . . .” Dax says when I arrive at his house later that day.
He’s looking a whole lot more together right now, like he’s not going to just lose it and do something stupid. He’s wearing a suit, his hair is clean and brushed, and he looks well-presented and incredibly powerful. If I had to guess, I’d almost say he was preparing for something huge. My heart slams against my ribcage because I’m scared. One wrong move, and this is all over.
I take a deep breath and force myself to smile up at him. Tonight, I need to put on the best damned show of my life, because it’s essential I get him out of this house, and the only way I’m going to do that is to